In the manufacture and packaging of blow-molded articles, such as hollow plastic containers or bottles, it is necessary that the containers be of uniform size and shape, and be free of defect. Additionally, scrap material from the manufacturing process may need to be separated from the blow molded articles before the blow-molded articles are packaged or further processed.
In the manufacture of blow molded bottles, the blow-molding operation results in th formation of “tail” at the closed end of the bottle, which tail must be snapped of, this generally being accomplished during removal of the bottle from the blow-molding machine. The blow-molding operation also results in the formation of a ringlike collar (also known as a “moil”) around the opening to the bottle, which moil is cut off from the molded bottle substantially upon completion of the molding operation. The blow-molded bottles, tails and moils are then generally discharged from the blow-molding machine, and must be later separated before further processing.
Further processing may include inspecting and orienting of the blow-molded bottles prior to filling, packaging, or other bottle handling operation. The blow-molded bottles may be fed to an inspection device where the bottles may be manually or automatically inspected. The bottles may also be fed to an unscrambling device where they are unscrambled.
The use of a large number of varying-sized articles to orient and/or package poses a particular problem to the manufacturing and packaging industries because they oftentimes are designed for a fixed size article. Thus, in order to change from one size container to another, for example, the various machinery, tooling, parts (such as guide arms, unscrambler bowl, etc.), had to be “changed out” before the machinery could accommodate another size. This change over not only results in additional costs, but also results in lost revenue due to down time.
Accordingly, there is a need in the industry for a cost effective and operationally efficient inspection and alignment apparatus and method for blow molded articles.